When Ricardo Mauro Perez’s father died in September, the Cuban Embassy denied him the right to go to his homeland to bury his father.

“The past generation suffered, but we are still suffering,” said Norka Perez, his wife. Standing in Little Havana among more than 1,000 exiles clad in red, white and blue of the Cuban flag, she was optimistic she might one day go back. “We are celebrating the hope to be free.”

As Cubans on the island mourned the death of Fidel Castro, the exile community in Miami continued to celebrate 288 miles and a political universe away from Havana.

Instead of the usual-rush hour crush Wednesday afternoon, Calle Ocho was the stage for a jubilant rally where people optimistically called for reform on the island. Young and old, some who fought in the Bay of Pigs invasion, some who dream of one day seeing the home of their parents and grandparents, danced and sang to salsa music amid a flurry of flags, Cuban cigar smoke and signs cheering Castro’s death.

Around 4:30 p.m., the crowd began to swell and fill the street between 12th and 13th avenues as the party atmosphere took hold. Before speakers took the stage, Willy Chirino’s “Nuestro Dia” blasted from loudspeakers and sent the crowd into sing-along.

The rally capped days of cathartic celebration since Castro’s death late Friday. Organized by 2506 Assault Brigade as an event to unite exiles, the event began with a moment of silence to honor those who fell in the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, and the many dissidents who have been killed and imprisoned under Castro’s rule.

Among those is Eduardo Lambert, 76, a veteran who survived the invasion and was briefly captured before returning to the U.S. Like so many, he was awakened at midnight Friday by a phone call from a friend with the news.

“We weren’t able to do it by force in the Bay of Pigs,” he said Wednesday, sitting in front of the monument honoring him and his fellow exiles. “But time took him away.”

Lambert, an economist, was hopeful Castro’s death might signal a new era for Cuba.

Lambert’s attitude echoed throughout Wednesday’s event, which was equal parts victory party and political rally. It marked a stark contrast to the somber atmosphere in Cuba, where a funeral procession carrying Castro’s remains criscrossed the country, with tens of thousands lining the streets to pay their respects to their former leader.

In Miami, a series of speakers roused the crowd with indictments of Castro’s legacy and President Barack Obama’s policy to re-establish relations with the Cuban government. Tinges of U.S. politics colored the crowd as some people yelled "Viva Trump," donned "Make American Great Again" hats and hoisted campaign signs in support of President-elect Donald Trump.

A saxophone player led the crowd in a rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner" followed by the Cuban national anthem, “La Bayamesa.’’

"Fidel Castro is no hero," said Sylvia Iriondo, president of MAR (Mothers and Women against Repression) por Cuba, in an address to the crowd. "He was the most ruthless dictator in the hemisphere."

Naisofi Pieonn, a 27-year-resident of Miami, pushed a cart full of flags and Cuban bread through the morass. She said she had a reason to smile today and the days to come because of the death of Castro.

"It's very difficult in Cuba," she said in Spanish. "I'm happy and my family is happy he is dead."

In Miami, Cuban exiles call for ‘massive rally’ to mark Fidel Castro’s death

Miami’s Cuban-American community tapped enduring symbols of its decades-old exile Sunday to demand a democratic future for communist Cuba now that Fidel Castro is dead — beginning with a cathartic rally planned for Wednesday at the Bay of Pigs Memorial in Little Havana for “all who have been affected by this regime.”

And not far from the museum honoring Bay of Pigs veterans, where about 100 people had gathered to call for the midweek rally, crowds formed for a second day in front of the Versailles Restaurant on Calle Ocho, where they filled the sidewalks waving American and Cuban flags as passing cars honked their horns.

Some carried photos of loved ones whom they said had been jailed and persecuted by Castro, but had not lived to learn of his death late Friday at age 90. Others banged pots and pans, and chanted rhythmic slogans in Spanish, demanding democratic reforms.

“Cuba libre ya!” Free Cuba now!

Nearly all had stories of how Castro had changed their lives, forever.

At the museum honoring the 2506 Assault Brigade, symbols abounded of the struggle — by exiles in Miami and dissidents on the island — against Castro’s rule.

Gathered in a room with walls covered by portraits of men who died in the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, brigade veterans joined with members of Damas de Blanco or Ladies in White, a government opposition movement in Cuba formed by the wives of jailed dissidents.

Throughout a half-hour press conference, they exhorted President-elect Donald Trump and Miami’s Cuban-American community to push hard for freedom in Cuba.

“The tyrant has died, but tyranny remains,” said Humberto Arguelles, president of the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association. He announced a rally “for liberty and democracy in Cuba” on Wednesday, set to begin at the Bay of Pigs Memorial on Southwest Eighth Street and 13th Avenue at 5 p.m.

Cuban government reverses cruise policy

Cuban-born citizens can take cruises to the country starting April 26

MIAMI - The Cuban government will allow Cuban-born citizens to travel to the country on cruise ships, reversing a long-standing policy.

In a statement released Friday in the state-run newspaper Granma, the government said it will allow Cuban-born citizens to return to the country as passengers and crew members on cruise ships, beginning on April 26.

The decision comes amid multiple lawsuits from Cuban-born citizens who claimed Carnival Cruise Line was discriminating against them. Earlier this week, Carnival announced it would accept bookings on its Fathom line from all travelers to Cuba, regardless of their country of origin.

"Mr. (Micky) Arison and Carnival have been great corporate citizens in Miami-Dade County for more than 40 years," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said in a statement. "This policy change was the right thing to do, and I congratulate both Mr. Arison and Carnival on their efforts in what is probably one of the very few times that a corporation has successfully negotiated the changing of a policy with the Cuban government."

Carnival CEO Arnold Donald said in a news conference Friday that he too was happy about Cuba's decision to change its policy.

"We made history a few weeks ago and we're making history again today of being a part of it," Donald said. "Most importantly, we are a part of a positive future and that's what we’re most proud of."

"It is an honor and privilege that we will be the first cruise line in over 50 years to sail from the U.S. to Cuba and back, and that's including to have onboard those who were born in Cuba."

The protests and lawsuits that were filed after Carnival first denied Cuban-born travelers from boarding its ships admittedly made the Miami-based cruise line nervous.

"When the noise got up to the level it did we were concerned that their might be some consternation on the other side to back away," Donald said.

The Democracy Movement, which staged the protests, praised Carnival on Friday saying it is a good first step.

"A citizen of Cuba should not have to ask for a visa to return to their own homeland whether by plane or by boat," Cuban activist Ramon Saul Sanchez said.

The announcement from the Cuban government said Cuban-born citizens traveling to the island must do so through proper channels, and with the appropriate visas.

Despite the change in the policy, members of the Cuban Democratic Directorate said Carnival has still "succumbed to the Castro Regime and is collaborating with its discriminatory and repressive policies."

"No vacation cruise should travel to a country where such harsh repression still happens, where discrimination against Cuban-born U.S. citizens is still in place," said Dr. Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat, co-founder and spokesman of the Cuban Democratic Directorate. "Thousands of Cubans are lying at the bottom of that sea which the cruise ships will sail on, and the money from those cruises will simply enrich that regime which forced their deaths."

President Barack Obama made his historic trip to Cuba this week where he gave a speech both praising and challenging the Cuban people, and the Castro regime. In his speech, President Obama stressed the importance of a democracy saying, “It gives individuals the capacity to be catalysts to think in new ways, and to reimagine how our society should be, and to make them better.” What impact will his speech make in the efforts to ending the decades-long embargo?
Guest: Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat, Cuban Democratic Directorate